Brats

I returned to the world of Laurel & Hardy with this 1930 short: 

Laurel & Hardy appear as children due to movie magic = aces. Last night I wasn’t in the mood for a feature film; thankfully, something that’s 20-minutes long-like Brats was-fit my mood better. I’ve dug their shorts and feature films, silents and “the talkie era.”

Brats is distinctive as it’s dual roles for Laurel & Hardy; they also portray their children. This is done by both them interacting w/ oversized sets and camera tricks. Besides the silliness of grown adults portraying little children, at first you think that the men are a married couple, but a photo on a mantle plus a line of dialogue reveals this not to be true. That photo… is of Jean Harlow! Is it a three-way polyamorous relationship?! The children-also called Stan & Oliver-cause plenty of mayhem at home one evening by acting childish, much to the dismay of their parents.

The production design was swell; this helped the viewer believe in the wacky conceit. Both parents and children suffer many pratfalls and bumbling about. The adults can’t handle either a game of checkers or a game of billiards, while the kids have a run-in w/ hot liniment fluid, alphabet blocks, and a mouse brought to life via animation.

I’m predisposed to this style of humor anyhow; I was delighted that the short allowed for different humor from the duo due to the concept. It’s been a delight to see more from Laurel & Hardy in the past 5 or 6 years.